Coast Guard Cutter Bear to return to homeport after Caribbean patrol

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The Coast Guard Cutter Bear is scheduled to return here Sunday after a 43-day patrol in the Caribbean.

The Bear, under direction of Joint Inter-Agency Task Force-South, patrolled the central and western Caribbean Sea and helped stem the flow of illicit contraband.

Highlights of the patrol included the pursuit of a speedboat on May 13, which lasted more than four hours until the speedboat ran out of fuel. The chase assisted a Honduran naval vessel crew in the capture of the speedboat. Approximately 800 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from the boat.

The same day, the Bear rendezvoused with the Coast Guard Cutter Campbell. The Campbell crew transferred the custody of a fishing vessel carrying more than 600 kilograms of cocaine to the Bear crew. The Nicaraguan Coast Guard later took custody of the fishing vessel.

During the patrol, the Bear’s crew also represented the United States during the tri-annual Curacao Maritime Days alongside Columbian, Dutch, French, and Mexican Coast Guard and Navy ships. The Curacao Maritime Days consisted of aerial and waterborne demonstrations, tours of the ten participating ships and numerous static displays. The Bear crew provided tours to more than 5,000 citizens and tourists of Curacao. The tours included discussions and demonstrations of the Coast Guard’s history, missions and capabilities.

Throughout the patrol, the crew conducted more than 150 helicopter evolutions, live-fire gunnery exercises and more than 40 other drills for training.